Saturday, April 19, 2014

Lawrence Leach was born in England in 1589 and died
in Salem, Massachusetts in 1662. He was
one of the “Old Planters”, who came to Cape Ann before Roger Conant and
Endicott settled Salem. His farm and land are located in what is now the city
of Beverly. Governor Craddock wrote a
letter to John Endicott in 1629: “We
desire you to take notice of one Lawrence Leech who we haue found a painfull
& carefull, man, and we doubt not butt hee will continue his diligence; let
him haue deserving respect.”

Lawrence’s son, Robert, my 9th great
grandfather, settled in Manchester, Massachusetts. He was given land by his father in 1639, and
he died intestate with a wife, Alice, and two sons before June 1674 according
to Essex Quartly Court records. According
to Robert Charles Anderson in his sketch of Robert Leach in The
Great Migration Begins: “In 1924 F. Phelps Leach published a genealogy
of this family which claimed ten children for the immigrant [Lawrence
Leach]. This author inserted in to the
family of Lawrence Leach many persons of the same name from all parts of New
England (and even some from old England) who could not have been his
children. The Robert each presented in
this volume as son of Lawrence is a chimaera, created by mixing records for
Robert Leach of Charlestown and Robert Leach of Manchester, the later of who
was the son of the immigrant.”

Estate of Robert Leach of
Manchester

This
writing is to inform the Court, that though Robert Leach late of Manchester
died without perfecting his will, yet sometime beofre he died he declared in
the presence of some neighbors as witness that his mind was "that after
some legacies as follows were paid to his daughters, that is to say to his
maried daughters: Sara and Elizabeth, fiue pounds apeece, to his daughter mary
ten pounds & to his two youngest daughters: Bethia and Abigaile eight
pounds apeece, that then his whole remaining estate should be left with his
beloved wife, Alce Leach, & his two sons Samuell & Robert Leach to be
equally proportioned amongst them.

"This
is farther to certifie, that although this was the last will and testament of
the aforesaid Robert Leach, yett upon farther consideration, Alce Leach the
widdow & her two sones Samuell & Robert Leach have agreed within
ourselves freely & Joyntly together, tomake an adition to these legacies
out of our owne estates, as to the two eldest daughters, Sara & Elizabeth what
they received from theire father, as theire portions, with the lagacies given
them by theire father, in his last will & testamt: as aboue written, &
the adition made there vunto by their mothr Alce Leach the widdow, & their
brothers Samuell & Robt Leach is to amount to fifteene pounds appeece, to
each of them they being married haveing received som portion alreddy with that
then receiued & the legacies due by theire fathers last will &
testament, with the adition made by theire mother, & brethren doth make up
fifteen pounds apeece to Sara & Elizabeth, for the rest of the daughters,
Mary, Bethiah, & Abigaile what theire father left hem as legacies in his
last will & testament & the adition made by the widdow Alce Leach there
mother, & Samuel & Robt: there brothers, comes to fifteene pounds
apeece, to each of them: Mary, Bethiah & Abigiale.

"This farther to informe the
Honrd Court wt is agreed upon within ourselves, alce Leach the widdow & her
two sons Saml & Robt Leach, that Samuel and Robert Leach taking into
consideration theire mothers condition, shee being left a widdow, wee haue
consulted together for her comfortable subsisting, for som way to continue her
maintenance in this her condition, And that ye widdow Alce Leach with her free
consent hauing resigned her interest in said estate as left by her husband
Robert Leach, in his last will & testament, the which her interest shee
hath, resigned up to her sons Samuell & Robert Leach, upon condition as
followeth, That Samll:& Robt Leach haue taken that whole estate, as left by
our father Robt Leach late deceased in Manchester, upon the resignement of the
widdow alce Leach our mother, haueing resigned up her interet in that estate
soe left by our father into our hands in consideration wheareof wee the aforsd
Samuell & Robert Leach, haue engaged to pay to our mother, the widdow Alce
Leach, ten pounds by the yeare in such pay may be for her use & shee stands
in need of, & the house left by our father where shee now lives with the
stuff now belonging thereto is to remaine to her out of this esat: soe that the
yearly pay ingaged by her sons to be pd her with the house & household
stuff, is to maine to her if shee continue in a widdowes condition, but if shee
marry then all the whole estate fals into the hands of her sons: Samuell &
Robert Leach they to continue or ramaine ingage to paye, but fiue pounds by the
yeare to there mother Alce Leach duering her lifetime.

"It is further to certifie that
Samuell & Robert Leach doe freely consent that theire mother Alce leach the
widdow shall reserve to herself out of the estate afore mentioned, shee to
reserve to herselfe twenty pounds, without any exception made of condtions,
only that when she dyes, shee to bequeath it to her children according as ashe
please, vnto whome to bestow it vupon as legacies from herselfe.

Allowed
by the court 1: 5m: 1674 and the saide Alce, widow and the two sons Samuell and
Robert Leach appointed administrators.

Essex County Probate Records,
vol. 301, pp. 51 - 53

My Leach genealogy:

Generation 1: Lawrence Leach, born about 1593 in
England, died before 24 June 1662 in Beverly or Salem, Massachusetts; marriedto
Elizabeth Unknown. She died about 1674
in Beverly.

Generation 2: Robert Leach, born about 1615, died
before June 1674 in Manchester; married Alice Unknown. Four children.

Generation 3: Samuel Leach, born about 1653 in
Manchester, died 14 October 1696; married first about 1672 to Arabella Norman,
daughter of John Norman and Arabella Baldwin. She died 8 May 1681 in
Manchester. Three children. He married
second Hannah Norman, her sister.

Generation 4: Catherine Leach, born 1 October 1680
in Manchester, died 1711; married 28 October 1696 to Joseph Allen, son of
Samuel Allen and Sarah Tuck. He was born
26 June 1672 in Manchester, died 17 August 1727 in Manchester. Seven children.

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About Me

Author of the Nutfield Genealogy blog. My family research includes Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, with a smattering of Nova Scotia. Please contact me if you see your ancestors on this blog. I would love to share information. I am the recording secretary of the New Hampshire Mayflower Society, President of the Londonderry Historical Society, member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Mass. Society of Genealogists, The National Genealogical Society, and the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists.